laterite

noun

lat·​er·​ite ˈla-tə-ˌrīt How to pronounce laterite (audio)
: a residual product of rock decay that is red in color and has a high content in the oxides of iron and hydroxide of aluminum
lateritic adjective

Examples of laterite in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
In addition to drying out, many forest sites have been disturbed or destroyed by extensive laterite mining, Raman says. WIRED, 22 Sep. 2023 More than $1 billion has been sunk into the processing facility, the first in Indonesia to use an acid-leaching technology to convert low-grade laterite nickel ore - which the country has in abundance - into a higher-grade material suitable for batteries. Rebecca Tan, Dera Menra Sijabat and Joshua Irwandi, Anchorage Daily News, 12 May 2023 More than $1 billion has been sunk into the processing facility, the first in Indonesia to use an acid-leaching technology to convert low-grade laterite nickel ore — which the country has in abundance — into a higher-grade material suitable for batteries. Rebecca Tan, Washington Post, 10 May 2023 But Indonesia's nickel lies almost twice as concentrated in deposits called laterites that are closer to the surface and may be more appropriate for the battery market, said Gavin Mudd, an environmental engineer at Australia's RMIT University. Ian Morse, Anchorage Daily News, 22 Nov. 2019 The most curious travelers should start at the 26-foot-high laterite wall that surrounds the citadel, oft ignored by most visitors. Lester V. Ledesma, Condé Nast Traveler, 12 Apr. 2018 The roads in the monument range from smooth laterite to choppy dirt washboard, and even some passages of rubble and sand. Aaron Gulley, Outside Online, 28 Mar. 2018 The temple is unique in that over-quarrying of sandstone led to the use of laterite for the roofed corridors. Antonia Neubauer, Town & Country, 5 Oct. 2016

Word History

Etymology

Latin later brick

First Known Use

1807, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of laterite was in 1807

Dictionary Entries Near laterite

Cite this Entry

“Laterite.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/laterite. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on laterite

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!